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7. Experiment with different papers. The glossy finish that you'll find on most drugstore prints and most photo paper is so common that most people don't even consider other possibilities, but there are other choices. Some printer manufacturers don't offer any other options, but you should check to see if there are any available for your printer. Many professional photographers prefer how photos look on matte paper, for example. You might want to try it as well.

Papers from other manufacturers are another possibility, but be aware that output qualityand colors in particularwill vary with the paper you use, something you can prove easily enough by printing a photo on both photo paper and plain paper on almost any inkjet. Before you invest in a lot of third-party photo paper, thinking that it will save money, experiment with a few sheets to compare the output with the same photos on the printer manufacturer's own paper.

8. Make sure the printer is set for the paper you're using. One printer setting deserves special attention. Make sure that the printer (for direct printing) or printer driver (for printing from a computer) is set for the type of paper you're actually printing. More than one manufacturer has told me, based on calls to tech support, that the single most common mistake people make is not changing the paper type setting to match the paper.

Some manufacturers have tried to bypass the problem with sensors that automatically detect the paper type, but they don't always work reliably. Unless your printer uses symbols on the back of the paper that the printer can read like bar codes to confirm paper type, don't assume that an Automatic Paper Type setting will work. Get in the habit of setting the paper type manually.

9. Print from an editing program. For the best-quality prints, move your photos to your computer and print from a photo-editing program. Photo printers aimed at professionals generally don't offer direct printing, because professionalsand serious amateursknow that they get much better control over basic features like cropping, resizing, and color management, as well as far more sophisticated editing tools, with a photo-editing program. With some printers, a photo-editing program will also let you print higher-resolution photos than you can when printing directly from a camera or memory card.

You probably have one or more easy-to-use editing programs that came with your printer, camera, or scanner and are well worth exploring. In addition you can download a free copy of Picasa from Google.

Even low-end programs often include surprisingly capable, easy-to-use features for fixing common problems in photos, such as red eye, yellow eye (the equivalent problem to red eye for animal photos), backlighting (with a bright background, as with sun streaming in a window behind someone and turning his or her face into a silhouette), and more. Even better, if your printer or scanner is aimed at a relatively sophisticated audience, it may well have come with a mid-range or high-end photo editor designed for that audience.

You may not want to spend the time and effort it takes to master even a moderately sophisticated photo editing program, but if you already have one for free, it's worth taking a look at it. Even if you use only some of its features, you may be surprised at how much you can do to improve your photos with very little effort.

10. Edit copies, not originals. Before you start editing a photowhich can mean anything from making minor tweaks, to applying special effects, to cropping the original to use only a part of itcreate a copy first. That way you can return to the original if you need to. And don't plan on editing and then saving under another name. It's safer to create copies before you open a file to avoid accidentally overwriting it. Once you have a copy to work with, you can feel free to experiment.

11. Avoid compression woes. Most cameras default toor are even limited tosaving pictures in a compressed JPG format. It's always a good idea to turn off compression (if you can) when you want the best possible photo quality. Even more important, however, is that you should never edit a compressed photo on your computer and then save it back to a compressed format. JPG is a lossy compression scheme, which means it loses information every time you save the file and recompress it. If you edit a compressed file, save it in the editor's native format or a format like TIF, without compression, to avoid degrading the image further.

12. Explore your printer driver. Virtually every printer's driver offers settings that affect picture quality. The choices may be limited to choosing between good, better, and best quality, or you may be able to adjust brightness; contrast; red, green, and blue levels; and more. If you want the best possible output, it's worth investing the time to explore your driver. At the very least, experiment with each of the quality settings to see the effect on the output quality and speed, so you can decide whether the improved output at high-quality modes is worth the extra time it takes to print.

There are other techniques for improving photo printing, but these are the most important. The more you experiment with them, the better your prints will become, and you'll have learned a range of methods you can apply to any given situation.Next: Recently Reviewed Photo Printers >

About the Author

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David is also an expert in imaging technologies (including printers, moni... See Full Bio

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